I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 891 The Correct Way to Open the Allies
Historically, when the Duchy of Modena became extinct, Austria immediately sent Francis II's cousin Francesco to Modena to succeed him as Grand Duke.

This Francesco's mother was the daughter of Ercole III, the current Grand Duke of Modena, who married Ferdinand Karl, brother of Leopold II.

It was because of this blood relationship that Austria allowed Modena to enter the Habsburg era.

This action actually violated the Salic Law - the law of succession to the throne that stipulates that daughters have no right of inheritance.

But since there were no rivals for the throne, Francesco IV eventually became the new Grand Duke of Modena.

And Joseph now wants to place a strong contender for the throne in Modena!
After the death of Ercole III, his French wife would naturally be able to control the political situation in Modena.

Francesco had hardly ever set foot in Modena before, so he could never compete with her.

Whether Modena would elect a new grand duke by the nobles or directly implement a parliamentary system would be acceptable to France, at least it would not fall into the hands of the Habsburg family.

It is even possible that everyone in Modena would unanimously request to join France.

Of course, whether France will accept this enclave depends on the international situation at that time and France’s own national strength.

The Foreign Minister of Modena bowed without hesitation and said: "It is the greatest honor for Modena to be able to marry the great France!
"I will report this to His Majesty immediately. I think His Majesty will be very pleased."

As he spoke, he glanced at Ludovico who was dancing with Princess Therese, and his heart suddenly stopped being sour. Isn't it just to earn a large piece of territory by marrying a wife? Modena will do it too!
Well, Bologna is bigger than Ferrara and almost doubles the size of Modena.

Seeing that Parma and Modena were fully loaded, and the Ferrara area had also been allocated, Milan President Giuseppe La hurried forward and bowed:
"Your Highness, your loyal Milan..."

Yes, in the Milan parliamentary election that ended last week, Giuseppe La, who was endorsed by France, was elected as the first president of the Republic of Milan with a high vote, although he was in Paris. So far, Lombardy has officially said goodbye to Austria. Even if the Austrians are very militant and can reoccupy Lombardy in the future, they will still face endless uprisings and resistance from the Milanese.

Joseph interrupted his complaint with a smile: "After the Battle of Mantua, Lake Garda will become an internal lake of the Republic of Milan, along with all the areas west of the Adige River."

Giuseppela was startled, and immediately said with a bitter face: "Your Highness, but those are all provinces of Venice..."

Joseph shook his head: “Venice was originally just a few seaport cities, and its area is not even as large as Genoa.

“Most of their current territory was stolen from the Marquisate of Verona by despicable means.

"And the Vatican's decision to hand Verona over to Venice obviously lacked legal basis."

Joseph had done a lot of research on the political situation in northern Italy recently. He discovered that the interests of the various families in this area were intertwined, and there were simply too many ways to make a fuss.

For example, the Marquisate of Verona, where the story of Romeo and Juliet is set, has been passed down from the Roman era. More than 200 years ago, the Venetians used the vast amount of gold coins in their hands to infiltrate the country economically, and at the same time, by bribing the church, they finally seized Verona.

He continued: "In reality, the Duke of Visconti is the legitimate ruler of Verona."

The Visconti he was talking about were the historical rulers of the Duchy of Milan, who had competed with Venice for Verona and occupied it for a time, but were eventually forced to withdraw due to the interference of the Vatican.

In fact, Verona originally belonged to the Scaliger family, and Milan and Venice came to rob them.

But this is the so-called historical basis, and France will say whatever is beneficial to it.

Although Giuseppe was delighted by the Crown Prince's suggestion, he still said with embarrassment: "Your Highness, but our country does not have the ability to take back our homeland..."

Joseph patted his shoulder vigorously and said seriously:

"You see, General Napoleon led tens of thousands of French soldiers in a bloody battle in Mantua just to open up a passage to Venice in the north." Giuseppela was overjoyed.

Venice was a formidable opponent to Milan, but it was nothing compared to the French army.

As long as France has plans to continue moving north, Milan can just follow behind and obtain the large tracts of territory promised by the Crown Prince.

This may be Milan’s only chance to expand!

He bowed and said: "Thank you, great France, for doing justice for our country.

"Our country's military strength is relatively weak, but we can help with logistics!"

He gritted his teeth and said, "I assure you that half of General Napoleon's logistical expenses in Mantua will be provided by the Milan Parliament!"

Napoleon currently commands an army of more than 6 troops, and is in a state of fierce fighting, which consumes a lot of resources.

Even if Milan, the richest place in northern Italy, wants to support half of the logistical supplies for so many people, it will have to do its best.

Joseph nodded in satisfaction.

Although Venice was a republic, it was a direct jurisdiction of Austria and provided a large amount of tax revenue to Austria.

So attacking Venice was an important step in defeating Austria.

And if you want to travel from northern Italy to mainland Austria, you must pass through Venice.

Now that Milan and France can be dragged north together, France's military expenditure will be greatly reduced.

Well, before that, Sardinia was also brought in.

Parma and Modena will definitely join the war in the future - Venice is such a big piece of cake, who wouldn’t want to have a piece of it?
This is the correct way to use the Northern Italian states.

Compared with the coalition forces of Britain, Prussia, Austria and other countries, the efficiency of the Mediterranean Security Organization is obviously several levels higher.

First of all, the security organization has a clear core - France. The government is unified and there is no buck-passing. The French army is responsible for the main attack, while other countries do miscellaneous work and provide logistics.

The anti-French alliance fought each other, and no one was willing to submit to the other, which easily led to internal friction and they were defeated one by one.

Secondly, members of security organizations have very consistent interests.

The northern Italian countries are all crying and shouting that they want to fight alongside France, and they will get angry with you if you don't let them participate.

Looking at the anti-French alliance, Prussia had already withdrawn from the war. Austria was badly beaten in Italy, and no ally would take the initiative to help it.

Without waiting for the ball to end, Giuseppe drafted an order for the Milan Parliament to raise funds in the lounge of the hall, and then instructed his entourage to send it back to the country via the Chap signal tower overnight.

Yes, the Sharp signal tower is on duty 24 hours a day. And because the lights are more visible at night, the transmission of information is more efficient.

(End of this chapter)